Continuing my long list of reviews for the MOTU figures available during the Mad Matty March sale, we come to the large scale beast character. Let's take a look at, Gygor!

And that's apparently supposed to be pronounced GUY-GORE. Many thought it was GYE-GORE as in giant gorilla, but it seems it is GUY-GORE, oh well.

So who is Gygor? Well he's a character that was protoyped buy unreleased for the vintage line. The vintage MOTU line made use of a few of the animal molds from the old Big Jim toyline. The tiger became Battle Cat and Panthor, the eagle became Zoar and Screeech. There was also a Big Jim gorilla that Mattel had planned to make into a new MOTU beast character, but he never made it to final product.

(thank you He-man.org for the prototype picture)

Gygor finally made it to toy form in the MOTUC series. So how does he fit in? Let's take a look.

Gygor comes in a large window box packaging with a design similar to the standard, but made to fit the larger character. The back of the box shows off other figures in the line, and has a photo of the actual product next to his bio. There was a bit of a surprise in this for fans as one of the few concept pieces seen for the prototype Gygor had featured He-Man riding on his back leading everyone to think he was a good guy, however the actual release reveals he is in fact a villain!

I've already mentioned how I feel the Great Unrest was, and should have remained, the time AFTER the Council of Elders left, but whatever. I'm also, as you probably know by now, not a fan of Pre-Filmation story stuff so I'm kinda on the fence about Oo-Larr and I don't like the Goddess character. (I'll go into detail why when I get around to reviewing her) Since Gygor had no previous storyline established, I don't really have a problem with most of the elements though. Even his being an old villain trapped then released, a concept used a LOT in MOTU, is okay. I have mixed feelings about whether he should have been from Preternian times instead. On one hand it's a bit overused what with Hordak and King Hiss, on the other I can see this guy as one of the ancient beast gods like Serpos.

Oh, and what is with Evil-Lyn releasing all these trapped old villains? While it's not specified in this bio, later Battleground Evil-Lyn's bio confirmed that Gygor did not end up being an ally. You think after the first two times she wouldn't keep trying expecting better results. She's supposed to be smart. There are several reasons why she should realize this is not a good move.

Yeah, I can't resist a chance to make fun of the yellow skin. On to the Gygor figure itself who really may not have much room to talk what with his bright yellow fur and olive green skin. An odd color choice, but it is what the prototype had.

Gygor is, of course, a completely new sculpt. Many people have questioned if he reuses the mold form the DC Universe Classics Gorilla Grodd and the answer is no he does not. Gygor is actually bigger than Grodd. The look is very similar but that's because they're both gorillas. The 4 Horsemen can't reinvent ape anatomy.

His body is made of a rotocast plastic so it is hollow and kinda squishy. Not super soft, but you can squeeze it good. (don't worry it'll return to it's shape fine) His arms are a more solid plastic and add some weight -not so much that he falls over or anything, just makes the figure feel more massive. His right hand is in a gripping pose and easily holds his weapon, but his left is more open. It basically works for two handed holding poses but doesn't have a good grip by itself. His sculpt is greatly detailed with a furry body overall and the bare chest like a real ape. His head has a great face sculpt with a feral roaring expression.

So he has all new parts but similar articulation to the standard figures. His head is on a ball joint and he has ball joints in his shoulders, swivel biceps ankles and wrists, and joint elbows. His hips are a cut joint and not a ball which limits how much you can move them but does really work better with the gorilla body. He has no waist or ab crunch articulation. It would have been cool to have these to pose him in a walking on knuckles pose, but would have driven the cost up more than it's worth.

Gygor is much bigger than a standard figure though not as tall as Tytus. (he's about 10 inches) He is however wider and that really sells him as quite the big guy. Just like the standard figures though his armor is designed to come off. His helmet slips off fairly easy but clips and stays in place well when on. His chest armor unhooks in the back and slips over his neck, but you must remove his head to do so. The arm and leg armor can be slipped off, but they can be rather a pain to maneuver on and off. Particularly the arms where the sculpted fur is thick and tuffs out.

Gygor's cape is attached to his armor and features a gorilla paw print emblem on the back. The cape is a softer slightly flexible plastic and does not seem to get in the way or weigh the figure down any. Though it must be admitted, without waist swivel there's not much for it to get in the way of.

Gygor includes a large battle ax weapon. It fits in his hand nicely and can be displayed in various poses quite well. While obviously too big for a normal figure, it does fit in Tytus' hand quite well and looks good with him. Much better than his own odd accessory.

Gygor is a real example of how the MOTUC line is all including, even of concept characters. That said, Gygor is a character that may not seem to fit for casual fans. Unlike He-Ro, who we knew was supposed to come out and we were given some back story on (even if that's been thrown out in the MOTUC continuity -I'll touch on that another time) Gygor we had nothing but a couple concept photos and even those has limited exposure. Many fans had no idea who Gygor was until he was revealed and even then and now many still are left wondering where this guy came from.

Now I know I said sort of the same thing about Demo-Man who didn't really appeal to me, but Gygor I actually like. Somehow this guy does fit in better for me. I find him more interesting in design and story (despite the things I mentioned) Maybe it's connected to my fondness for King Kong.

Gygor is available now on Mattycollector.com during the Mad Matty March sale and is marked down 10%. Now curiously unlike most of the MMM items Gygor is also showing up on the regular March sale bundle page. I'm not sure if this means he will still be left up for sale after the MMM sale or not but either way I'd advise grabbing him while the discount is in effect. Until next time, Good Journey.

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